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”This isn’t right.”
Neither of them had said a word as they drove through the ruined Arcadia Bay, or for the hour it took them to reach the next town. Chloe had parked the car outside of a diner reminiscient of the Two Whales, and they had ordered a cup of coffee each, still without talking to each other. But as they sat down opposite each other in one of the booths, Max felt like she had to speak up.
”There has to be another way. This can’t be it.”
Chloe sighed. ”Max. You need to go back and let me die. It’s the only way.”
Max shook her head, feeling tears start to sting her eyes. ”No. I already told you that’s out of the question. There must be another way.”
Chloe frowned. ”There isn’t. I know it fucking sucks, but you can’t sacrife a whole town just to save my sorry ass. It’s not fair.”
”Sacrificing you isn’t fair either! Not after everything you’ve been through. After everything we’ve been through.”
Chloe reached over the table to take her hand. ”I know. But we can’t build a happy ending on top of a whole town of people we let die.” She took a deep shaky breath. ”I love you. So much. But we can’t do this.”
Max used her free hand to wipe her eyes. ”Fuck!”
”I know.”
They sat in silence for a while again. Chloe sipped her coffee slowly while Max swallowed big gulps of hers, despite or maybe because it scorched her mouth and throat. Eventually she reached for her phone and started to look through her social media.
”Chloe, remind me which day Rachel disappeared.”
”Why?” Chloe frowned.
”Please Chloe! There’s one more thing I haven’t tried, if this doesn’t work, I… I promise I will go back and not use my powers to save you. But I have to try this first.”
Chloe sighed and took a sip of her coffee before nodding. ”April 22nd. But you weren’t even in Arcadia Bay back then, you can’t go back and save her.”
”No, but maybe you can.” Max scrolled through her phone, searching for a selfie or something from April. Her heart started to race as she found one that should fit the time window. She looked up at Chloe. ”I love you. Whatever happens, I will always remember you.”
Chloe nodded before getting up to lean over the table. Max also leaned forward and met her in a kiss. Chloe sobbed as they broke the kiss, and tried her best to wipe away her tears.
”Goodbye, Max.”
”Please don’t say that.”
Chloe gave her a small smile. ”See you around, then.”
Max took a few deep breaths before picking up the phone and focusing hard on the photo she’d choosen. She worried it might not work with a digital image, but soon enough she could feel reality start to shift around her.
*
She was sitting at the desk of her old room back in Seattle. She still held the phone from the selfie she’d just taken, and with a racing heart she clicked the camera away and pulled up her contacts, calling Chloe. It took a few seconds, but eventually Chloe picked up.
”Max? What do you want?”
”Chloe, please don’t hang up! I know I’ve been an awful friend, and I don’t expect you to forgive me for that, but please hear me out. Rachel is in serious danger, if you don’t help her she will die!”
”Wait, what are you talking about? How do you even know about-”
”She’s been kidnapped by her teacher, Mark Jefferson, and he keeps her in an underground bunker. The entrance is hidden inside an abandoned barn. I’ll message you a map of where to find it. Please Chloe, please don’t go there by yourself, he will kill you if he gets the chance! You need to bring the police with you, or if they won’t listen, you have to bring David.”
Chloe snorted. ”You can’t be serious. Why would step-douche believe me if the police won’t? Hell, why should I believe any of this?”
”There’s no time to explain, you have to trust me on this! I just-” A sob tore itself from her throat, and she struggled to calm her breathing down enough to finish the sentence. ”I love you Chloe, and I just want you to be happy. I know how much you love Rachel.”
”Max-”
”I need to send you the picture before it’s too late. Please be careful Chloe.”
”Max, wait-”
She hung up and quickly searched the web for pictures showing what the barn looked like and where it was located. She sent the pictures to Chloe, along with the code to the bunker, and some of the names of the other girls she’d seen folders on inside the bunker, to hopefully help Chloe convince David.
As soon as she pressed send she could feel the reality around her starting to twist into a new timeline. She closed her eyes and hoped what she had done would be enough.
*
”Max? Are you okay?”
She opened her eyes and tried to make sense of her new surroundings. She was laying down on the floor of Chloe’s hideout at the junk yard, with her head in Chloe’s lap. ”What happened?”
Chloe frowned and put one hand over Max’s forehead. ”You fainted. I caught you, so you didn’t hurt yourself when you fell, at least. Rachel went to get you some water from the car.”
Max eyes widdened and she sat up. ”Rachel?”
She heard footsteps approaching, and when she turned her head she locked eyes with someone she’d never met before, but still recognized right away. Rachel Amber.
Rachel hurried over to them and sat down on her knees, giving Max the water bottle she’d brought. ”Here you go. How are you feeling?”
”I…” Max couldn’t help herself, she started giggling and crying at the same time.
”Hey.” Chloe put her hands on Max’s shoulders and searched her eyes. ”Are you okay? Should we take you to the hospital or something?”
Max leaned in and hugged Chloe as hard as she could, sobbing softly against her neck. ”No, I’m fine. I’m sorry, I don’t know why I’m crying.”
Rachel reached out and started to gently comb through Max’s hair with her fingers. ”Maybe it’s just low blood sugar. What do you say we go get something to eat?”
Max looked up at Rachel and nodded. ”Yeah. Yeah, I’d like that.”
Rachel smiled back. ”Good.” She leaned in and kissed first Chloe and then Max softly on the lips. ”Drink some water first.”
Max stared at her with wide eyes before looking back to Chloe.
Chloe gave her a gentle nudge. ”Water, Max.”
”Right, uh…” She opened the bottle and drank half of it, trying her best to wrap her head around everything. When she lowered the bottle, Chloe smiled and leaned in to kiss her. Then both Chloe and Rachel stood up, extending one hand each to Max.
”You coming?”
Max took both of their hands and managed to stand up despite her legs shaking violently. She smiled and let them lead her to Chloe’s car.
For the whole car ride Max tried to catch up on this new timeline by looking through her diary. Apparently her plan had worked. Chloe and David had managed to find Rachel in time, and Jefferson was captured and sentenced to jail shortly afterwards. ”Thank God.” Max muttered to herself.
Rachel who was sitting in the middle glanced at her as she spoke, but when Max didn’t say anything more she turned her attention back to Chloe as the two of them continued to gush about some concert the three of them were planning on going to next weekend.
Max decided to read the diary more thoroughly when she was alone, but she wanted to know one more thing before putting it away. She skipped ahead to when she had returned to Arcadia Bay, and after skimming through the next few entries she found what she was looking for. Max was hardly surprised to read that Chloe and Rachel were dating at the time, what surprised her was that after a few days of the three of them hanging out as friends, Rachel had been the one to suggest Chloe and Max should kiss. The diary kept the rest of the entry vague, but Max was pretty sure the three of them had spent the night together after that.
”Hey, Max?” Chloe looked over at her with a concerned expression. ”We’re here.”
Rachel shot her a smile. ”Think you can get inside without fainting, or should I carry you bridal style?”
Max closed her diary and smiled at both of them. ”I think I’ll be fine.”
They got out of the car and walked into the Two Whales. Max felt like her heart skipped a beat as she saw Joyce, safe and sound behind the counter, and David seated in front of her with a cup of coffee.
”Hi mom, David.” Chloe punched David’s shoulder in a playful manner before focusing on her mother. ”We need waffles asap, Max fainted.”
Joyce frowned and looked over at Max. ”Are you okay?”
Rachel put her arm around Max’s shoulder. ”It’s probably just low blood sugar, but we’re keeping our eyes on her.”
Joyce smiled and nodded. ”That’s good. Three waffles coming up.”
Rachel still held on to Max as she led her to one of the booths, but she let go of her shoulders and held her hand instead as she took a seat. Max jumped in beside her, and somehow Chloe managed to squeeze in on Max’s other side, despite the seats being designed for two people.
Soon enough three plates of belgian waffles were placed in front of them, but before Max could reach for her fork Chloe grabbed her free hand and grinned at her.
”Would you look at that? It seems like both of your hands are occupied.”
Rachel giggled. ”I guess we have no choice but to feed you your waffles, huh?”
Max could feel herself starting to blush, but she smiled and gave each of them a quick kiss. ”I guess you’re right.”